Our program aims to train and develop physician-scientists who will advance the field of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. Our subspecialty requires a wide variety of expertise and scientific strategies for understanding and treating communication disorders and diseases of the head and neck. These diseases can limit survival, and more broadly affect the ability to relate to family, workplace and society at large. We aim to provide the scientific training, as well as communication and administrative skills that will enabl our graduates to become creative contributors to the future of otolaryngology and the treatment of associated communication disorders. One significant indicator of success, and a point of great pride, is the number of trainees who have gone on to academic careers at Hopkins and elsewhere, including several who are now among the faculty of this training grant. Two residents per year enter into 2 years of research training in their third year of residency. These trainees can choose from a wide, and deep, selection of research programs both within the department, and in associated laboratories at Hopkins and elsewhere. The topics include, but are not limited to: molecular biology of head and neck cancers, basic mechanisms of, and therapeutic innovation for dizziness and balance, studies of the auditory nervous system including utilization and outcomes of cochlear implantation, pathogenesis of sinusitis, epidemiologic and genomic association studies. We aim to educate enthusiastic, inquisitive, critical, and knowledgeable young investigators who can pose and then answer significant questions and who will be able to conduct successful, independent research careers in academic medicine.